Cascos grew up on the border and was elected as a Cameron County judge.

“What I’ve seen, they develop a relationship with many of the elderly voters,” he said. “The elderly voter unsuspectingly trusts these people, these men, and women. They visit them on a regular basis, they take them sweet bread, and they take them ice cream, whatever it is.”

According to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, out of 17 convictions of vote-related crimes between 2012 and 2014, 10 of them originated in border counties.

Flores said the high illiteracy rate in the border region may be a factor. However, she believes it is citizen engagement that ultimately helped bring “politiqueros” to justice.

“We need to have some teeth in the penalties when these laws are violated because it’s very important. It’s our democracy!” Flores exclaimed.

Flores said her group is closely monitoring polls and has already reported cases of alleged voter fraud using these harvesting techniques in this election cycle.

If you want to know how to get involved in poll-watching Tuesday, contact your local elections administrator.